What is the best camera for Milky Way Photography
The most common question I am asked by new photographers is:
“What is the best camera to photograph the Milky Way?”
Before we get into the key features of the perfect Milky Way camera I want to talk about your perfect camera.
Because you see, my answer to “what is the BEST camera” might not be the answer you will see on other sites.
In fact, I’m not even going to give you a recommendation for a camera body to buy.
Wait. What? Just TELL ME what to buy Kristine! <— this is what I imagine you’re saying to me right now.
Look I can give you a fish or teach you to fish. Guess which one I’m going to do?
Stick with me, and by the end of this post you will be eating fish… I mean you will know the type of camera you should get.
I would like to ask you: “Is Milky Way photography the only thing that you’re going to take pictures of with this new camera you’re going to buy?”
No, I didn’t think so.
I use my camera to photograph the Milky Way but I also use my camera to photograph dogs.
In fact I bought my camera for it’s uncanny ability to track moving objects- you know like a dog who’s running crazy fast after a tennis ball.
I also bought it for it’s amazing dynamic range and low light sensitivity, but that wasn’t enough to make it the right camera for me.
There are cameras with great low light sensitivity and dynamic range that have crap focussing systems -which, if you’re photographing the Milky Way (which is all manual focus) doesn’t matter, but certainly does if you’re photographing dogs.
See where I’m going here? Want another example? Of course you do:
Let’s talk printing. Maybe you love to print your images huge, like 40 x 60“, or maybe you never print your images and if you do you only print them to maybe 12 x 18″ max.
Well depending on your answer to that you’re going to need a different number of megapixels in your camera.
Kristine, please tell me what camera to buy!
Ok, you asked nicely, so here are the goods on what I think you need in the perfect Milky Way camera.
But PLEASE, think about what else you will be using your camera to shoot.
And at the end of the post I give you action items to actually go out and buy your camera.
First- it goes without saying (but I will) I recommend DSLR and MILC cameras.
These are cameras that let you shoot in full manual and RAW.
I categorically DO NOT recommend trying Milky Way Photography with other cameras that have smaller sensors (like a point and shoot, high end point and shoot zoom, or your phone – though there are some phones that are starting to be able to shoot the Milky Way)
1. Low Light Sensitivity and Performance
When we’re talking about the low light sensitivity and performance of a camera’s sensor the conversation really comes down to:
Full Frame vs APS-C vs Micro 4/3s
If you can work it into your budget, I recommend a full-frame camera.
Full frame sensors are physically larger than APS-C and Micro 4/3s and as such the lens they use to capture light is bigger. Bigger lens = more light. And more light is good.
Milky Way Photography is VERY low light. In case you were wondering the light is coming at us from -oh- 100,000 light years away, so yes, it is a very dim light. Having a camera that can gather AS MUCH light as possible is important. Hence, my recommendation for a Full Frame camera.
Bummed because you can’t fit a full-frame into your budget?
Despair not, you can get perfectly usable images out of APS-C or Micro 4/3s cameras. Read on to the next two points and do some research into your options.
2. ISO Range and Noise
Most Milky Way Photography images are photographed at ISO 3200–6400. You want a camera sensor that works well at those ISOs and doesn’t have an unbearable amount of noise. You can look at a sensor’s noise performance here:
https://www.dxomark.com/category/camera-reviews/
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews?category=cameras
The other thing that people don’t often take into consideration is the ability to do test shots for exposure more quickly if you have ridiculously high ISOs.
Will you every take an image at ISO 51,200 or 102,400 and print it for your wall? Well, not likely.
However, you will be able to take a 2 second exposure to test your focus and composition instead of a 20-30 second exposure.
How long would you rather wait to see if your image is in focus- 2 seconds, or 30?
Or how would you feel after waiting 30 seconds to see that your camera bag is in your composition because you moved your tripod and you’re using a crazy wide lens? Wouldn’t it be better to see that after 2 seconds? That is what having a very high ISO can do for you.
3. Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is the range of light your camera can capture between it’s darkest dark and lightest light.
In practical night photography terms, a sensor that gives you better dynamic range means you can pull details out of an underexposed image that you wouldn’t be able to on a sensor that doesn’t have the same range.
https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/ gives you a score on the sensor’s effective dynamic range.
4. Liveview and LCD
A camera with a good quality LCD screen is important! Now, if you are buying a new camera the chances are it has a good LCD screen. Most all new camera’s do. You can look at the overall resolution of the LCD screen.
For example: the Nikon D850 has 2359K dots, while the Nikon D3500 has 921K dots. The former will obviously give you a higher quality preview than the latter.
(This is not a deal breaker for me though, as my students will tell you- your LCD screen lies! But it is nice to have a higher res screen)
And the last thing that I look for is a tilting or articulating LCD screen.
Do you 100% need it? No.
Will it make your life crazy better when you are trying to see your histogram on your screen in the middle of the night while you’re lying in wet sand. Well, yes, yes it will #advicefromexperience
Now, no conversation about what camera to buy is complete without talking about the BIG M (people call it that, right?!)….
5. Megapixels
Everyone seems to care about megapixels. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need a camera with a CRAZY amount of megapixels. And actually, it may be a hindrance when you are learning to shoot Milky Way photographs.
The number of pixels on your sensor determines the sensor pitch (basically how much room there is in between each pixel). The smaller your sensor pitch is the shorter your exposures need to be to not get star trailing, and it will start to affect things like diffraction and dynamic range.
For more on this read this in depth article:
https://clarkvision.com/articles/does.pixel.size.matter/index.html
If you would rather I sum it up- you want to get a camera that has a pixel pitch of no less than 4.0 microns (µm) – you can look up camera’s pixel pitch here:
https://letmaik.github.io/pixelpitch/index.html
So here we are and you now know how to fish (are you going to get me some fish for supper too please? My daughter can eat her body weight in fish).
But WHAT CAMERA do I get? Ok, ok. Here are some recommendations based on sensor and budget:
https://kit.co/kristinerosephoto
You’ll notice they are all Nikon. That’s not because Nikon is the only brand you can use, it’s because I use Nikon and am most familiar with Nikon.
More importantly- here is my action list for you:
1. Write out a list of the things you want to use your camera for (different types of photography), and what features are important to do that kind of work (include what I have listed above for Milky Way Photography)
2. Research camera bodies in your price range.
3. Go to a local camera store and talk to an associate with your list in hand.
It’s literally their job to know about the cameras they sell (I know, I worked camera retail while in university). If you come with a list in hand and ask them to talk to you about a good camera.. well, I recommend having a good half hour blocked out, because they will be able to give you recommendations based on your budget.
(If this is not an option- camera stores are closed due to COVID, you don’t live somewhere close to a store- CALL a store instead. They want your business and to help you get the right camera.)
4. Actually handle the cameras that you are considering buying.
If you don’t like how the camera feels in your hand, are you actually going to shoot with it? This is a perk of going to a real live camera store and talking to someone in person.
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.
And if you do get a new camera, please let me know what you got! My camera works perfectly well so I have no reason to buy a new one and I’d like to live vicariously through you!
